Because im looking at ways of transforming the body from its natural state i thought id have a look at ways we change our bodies for different reasons such as fashion/ religion or culture. Besides all the more mainstream and normalised ways of body modification such as piercing your ears or dying your hair, body modification originates from centuries ago as part of rituals or beliefs rather than vanity reasons.
Scarification
This is a type of tattooing that doesnt use ink just a scalpel to carve out the skin then left to heal leaving the scarred tissue behind. It can be very dangerous as the cut needs to be a certain depth and there can be a lot of blood loss.
From research i found African tribal tattoos in South Nguni, however the tatoos are seen as beautifying the female body rather than religious meanings. Cow dung is used to seal the wounds from infection...
Just a warning the photos get a bit more graphic further down if you dont like blood!
I also found some videos of tutorials for Asian women showing ways of making bigger eyelids that look more westernised. This type of body transformation is bordering more into racial identity which is a bit tooooo deep for my work to go into but the use of glue to change the face shapes is an interesting idea. Some use medical tape or can even have a surgical procedure.
Stretchers
Lip plates came from tribal rituals in Ethiopia and theyd also remove the 2 front bottom teeth. The size of the plate is meant to be a sign of their social or economical importance. This has spread into mainstream and become more westernised.
Implants
Dermal implants are pieces of material that can be implanted under the skin in different shapes from small gems to larger implants.
I also found this video ages ago from Japan which just really confused me, it just seems completely different to getting peircings or implants and seems like another level thats a bit scary! There are lots of ways people use to modify their natural body and shape it to get the image they want, this i feel is a sort of evolution of man as we're becoming more man made and technology based.
Bagel Heads
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